The New Lawyer (Australia) is reporting this morning that…
Both the Australian and New Zealand legal professions have publicly condemned the Fiji Government’s raid of the country’s law society offices on the weekend.
Editor Kate Gibbs writes:
The weekend raid included them removing files from the law society offices. The society has been told it no longer has control of licensing lawyers, and that membership is no longer compulsory.
Today the Law Council of Australia expressed its "grave concerns" about the future independence of the legal profession in Fiji.
It raised concerns about Decree 16, which places the power to issue practising certificates in the hands of the Chief registrar of the court, a government employee.
“I am concerned that this could be the first step in the Fiji Government’s attempts to control the country’s legal profession by not allowing lawyers who oppose the regime to practise law," said Law Council president John Corcoran.
See the full report at http://www.thenewlawyer.com.au/article/fiji-law-society-attack-angers-aus-lawyers/482580.aspx#addcomments
